HxMiflied accordiagtoAct of&rHaiiient, Septf 1,1^3 b^Arcli : 3ell, JBc)okfeller]^8iiear the Saraceas Head Ald^ate.CIIl^—
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VARIOUS SUBJECTS,
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL,
P H I L L I S W H E A t L E r,
■■ -
In^egro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley,, of Boston, in New England.
LONDON:
Printed for A, Bell, Bookfeller, Aldgate; and fold by Meflrs. C o X and B E R R Yj King-Street, BOSTON.
M DCC LXXIir.
DEDICATION.
To the Right Honourable the
COUNTESS OF
THE POLL
P O E M
Are moft refpedfully Infcribed,
By her much obliged, Very humble.
And devoted Servant,
Bojion, June 12, »773-
PkMs Whathy^
^ T ^ H E following Poe m s were written originally for the Amufement of the Author, as they Vv’ere the Produ6ts of her leifure Mo- ments. She had no Intention ever to have piibiifhed them; nor would they now have made their Appear- ance, but at the Importunity ol many of her beft, and moft gene- rous Friends; to whom fhe con- hders herfelf, as under the greateh; Pblip-ations.
'As ner Attempts in roetry are now fent into the World, it is hoped the Critic will not feverely ccnfure their Defeats ; and we pre- fume they have too much Merit
PREFACE.
V
to be caft aiicie v/ith Contempt, as worthlefs and trilling EfFulions,
' As to the Difadvantages llae has laboured under, with Regard to Learning, nothing needs to be of- fered, as her Matter’s Letter in the following Page will fuiiiciently fhew the Diiiicukies in this Kefpectt fhe had to encounter.
j With all their Imperfedions, the Poems are now humbly fubmitted to the Perufal of the Public.
The
The following is a Copy of a Letter fent by the Author’s Mailer to the Pubiifher.
P HILLIS was brought from Africa to America^ in the Year 1761, between Seven and Eight Years of Age. Without any Affiflancefrom School Education, and by only what Ihe was taught iri the Family, die, in fixteen Months Time from her Ar- rival, attained the Englidi Language, to v/hich die was an utter Stranger before, to fuch a Degree, as to read any, the moll difficult Parts of tlie Sacred W ritings, to the great Alloniflim.ent of all who heard her.
As to her Writing, her own Curiofity led her to it ; and this flie learnt in fo ffiort a Time, that in the Year 1765, die wrote a Letter to the Rev. Mr. CccoM, the Minifter, while in England.
She has a great Inclination to learn the Latin Tongue, and has made fome Progrefs in it. This Relation is gii^n by her Mailer who bought her, and with whom die now lives.
JOHN VfHEATLEY.
Ecficn, Ncc. 14, 1772. r
To the P U B L I C K.
AS it has been repeatedly fuggeiled to the Publifher, by Pcr- fons, who have feen the Manufcript, that Numbers would be ready to fufpecl they were not really the Writings of PHILLIS, he has procured the following Attellation, from the moll refpedable Charadlers in B oft on 4 that none might have the lead Ground for difpudng their UriginaL
W E whofe Names are under-written, do alTurc the World, that the Poems fpecified in the following Page, * were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years fince, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africay and has ever fince been, and now is> under the Difadvantage of ferving as a Slave in a Family in this Town, She has been examined by fome of the bell Judges, and is thought qualified to write them.
His ExceVejicy Thom hs Hutchinson, Governor y The Hon, Andrew Oliver, Lieutenant-Governor,
The Hon, Thomas Hubbard, The Hon, John Erving,
The Hon. James Pitts,
The Hon, Harrifon Gray, The Hon, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, Ef^'y Jofeph Green, Efq-y Richard Carey,
The Rev.. Charles Chauncy,D. D,. The Rev. Mather Byles, U. D, The Rev Ed. Pemberton, />.£>• The Rqv, Andrew Elliot, [},D. The Rev. Samuel Cooper, ty.D, The Rev, Mr, Samuel Mather, The Rev, Mr. John Moorhead, Mr, John \Vheatley, her Mafer,
N, B, The original Attellation, figned by the above Gentle- men,- may be feen by applying to Archibald Belly Bookfelier, No. 8, Aldgate-Street,
POEMS
VARIOUS SUBJEdfS. '
To M ^ C E N A S.
AE C E N A Sj yoUj beiieath the myrtle
Read o’er what poets fung, and ffiepherds play’d^ What felt thofe- poets but you feel the fame ? Does not your foul poffefs the faered flame ? Their noble ftrains yoW equal genius fhares \ In fofter language^ and diviner airSi
While Homer paints lo! cireumfus’d in air, Celeftial Gods in mortal forms appear i
O N
fliade.
B
Swift
10
POEMS ojT
Swift as they move hear each recefs rebound, Hcav’n quakes, earth trembles, and the fliores re- found. lo
Creat Sire of verfe, before my mortal eyes,
The lightnings blaze acrofs the vaulted ikies,
And, as the thunder ihakes the heav’nly plains,
A deep-felt horror thrills through all my veins. When gentler ftrains demand thy graceful fong, 1 5 ■ The length’ning line moves languiihing along. When great Patroclus courts Achilles’ aid.
The grateful tribute of my tears is paid j Prone on the fhore he feels the pangs of love.
And flern tend’reft paffion$ move. „ 2 a
■Great Metro's llrain in heav’nly numbers flows. The Nine infpire, and all the bofom glows.
O could I rival thine and Virgil’s, page.
Or claim the Mufes with the Mantuan Sage ;
Soon the fame beauties fhould my mind adorn, 25 And the fame ardors in my foul fliould burn :
Then flrouldmy fong in bolder notes arife.
And all my numbers pleafingly furprize >
But
VARIOUS SUBJECTS, ii
But here I fit, and mourn a grov’ling mind,
That fain would mount, and ride upon the wind.
Not you, my friend, thefe plaintive {trains be- come.
Not you, w'hofe bofdm is the Mufes home ;
When they from tow’ring Helicon retire.
They fan in you the bright immortal fire.
But I lefs happy, cannot raifc the fong, 35
The fgult’ring mufic dies upon my tongue.
The happier Terence * all the choir infpir’d,
His foul replenifh’d, and his bofom fir’d •,
But fay, ye Mufes^ why this partial grace,
To one alone of .4^/c’s fable race; 40
From age to age tranfmitting thus his name With the fir ft glory in the roMs of fame ?
Thy virtues, great Mtecenas ! fhall be fung In praife of him, from whom thofe virtues fprung ;
• He was an African by birth,
B 2
While
f'j2 P O E M S
■While blooming wreaths around thy temples, fpread, '
I’ll fnatch a laurel from thine honour’d head, ^■Vi^hile you indulgent fmule upon the deed.
As long as Ty^ames in ftreams majeftic flows,
Or Naiads in their oozy beds repofe.
While Phwbus reigns above the ftarry train, 50 While bright Aurora purpjes o’er the main.
So long, great Sir, the mufe thy praife fhall fing^ So long thy praife fliall make Parnajjus ring Then grant, Maecenas, thy paternal rays,
Hear me propitious, and defend my lays, 55
0 w
OThou bright jewel in rfiy aim I ftrive
Xo comprehend thee. Thine own words declare
Wifdom is higher than a fool can reach.
I ceafe to wonder, and no more attempt Thine height t’ explore, cr fathom thy profound. 5 But, O my foul, fink not into defpair.
Virtue is near thee, and with gentle hand Would now embrace thee, hovers o’er thine head. Fain would the heay’n-born foul with her converfe,‘ Then feek, then court her for her promis’d blifs.
Aufpicious queen, thine heay’nly pinions fprcad. And lead celeftial Chajiity along ;
Lo ! now her facred retinue defcends.
Array’d in glory from the orbs above.
Attend me, Virtue^ thro’ my youthful years ! 1 5
P Iqave me not to the falfe joys of time ! put guide my fteps to endlcfs life and blifs.
GreatnefSf
14 I* O E M Son
CreatnefSy or Goodnefs, fay what 1 lliall call thee,
To give an higher appellation ftill.
Teach me a better ftrain, a nobler lay, 20
O thou, enthron’d with Cherubs in the realms of day I
To
To THE University of CAMBRIDGE, IN NEW-ENGLAND.
\JiJ HILE an intrinfic ardor prompts to write. ^ ’ The mufes promife to aflift my pen ; ’Twas not longlince I left my native fliore The land of errors, and Egyptian gloom :
Father of mercy, ’twas' thy gracious hand Brought me in fafety from thofe dark abodes.
S.
Students, to you ’tis giv’n to fcan the heights Above, to traverfe the ethereal Ipace,
And mark the fyftems of revolving worlds.
Still more, ye fons of fcience ye receive lo The blifsful news by meffengers from heav’n, How Jefus’ blood for your redemption flows.
See him with hands out-ftretcht upon the crols ; Immenfe companion in his bofom glows ; fie hears revilers, nor refents their fcorn : 15
What matchlefs mercy in the Son of God !
When the whole human race by fin had fall’n.
He
P: O; E M S ON
i6
He deign’d to die that they might rife again.
And fixate with him in the fublimeft fkies.
Life without death, and glory without end. 20
Improve your privileges while they flay.
Ye pupils, and each hour redeem, that bears Or good or bad report of you to heav’n.
Let fin, that baneful evil to the foul,
Byyou befhunn’d, nor once remit your guard; 25 Supprefs the deadly ferpent in its egg.
Ye blooming plants of human race divine.
An Ethiop tells you ’tis your greateft foe ;
Its tranfient fweetnefs turns to endlefs pain.
And in immenfe perdition links the foul. go
To
VARIOtJSSUBjECTS. 17
To the KIN Cs Moft Excellent Majefty.
Your fubjefts hope, dread Sire—
The crown upon your brows may flouriJfh long.
And that your arm may in ypur God be ftrong ! O may your fceptre num’rous nations fway,
And all with love and readinefs obey !
But how ftiall we the 'Britijh king reward ! ^ \
Rule thou in p^ce, our father, and oiir lord ! Midft the remembrance of thy favours pa%
The meaneft peafants moft admire the laft, * May GeorgCy belov’d by all the nations round. Live with heav’ns, choiceft conftant bleffings crowp’d? 10
Great God, direft, and guard him Ifom on high,, And from his head let ev’ry evil fly 1 And may each clime with equal gladnefs fee A monarch’s fmile can fet his fubjeds free !'
* The Repeal of the Stamp AiJVa.
C - Of
Q U
On being brought from A F R I C A to AMERICA.
TW A S mercy brought me from my Pagan land.
Taught my benighted foul to underftand That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too : Once I redemption neither fought nor knew.
Some view our fable race with fcornful eye, g Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Chrijiians, Negros, black as Caif^
May be refin’d, and join th’ angeli^ train.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 19
On the Death of the Rev; Dr. S E W E L L. 1769.
R E yet the mom its lovely blufhes fpread,
See Sewell number’d with the happy dead. Hail, holy man, arriv’d th’ immortal fliorci Though we fhall hear thy warning voice no more. Come, let us all behold with wilhful eyes 5 The faint afcending to his native Ikies j From hence the prophet wing’d his rapt’rous way To the bleft manfions in eternal day.
Then begging for the Spirit of our God^
And panting eager for the fame abode, '.IQ ^
Come, let us all with the fame vigotlr fife,>
And take a profpeft of the blifsful Ikies ;
While on our minds Chriji's image is impreft/
And the dear Saviour glows in ev’ry breaft;
Thricfe happy faint ! to find thy heaV’n atlaflr,- 15 W hat eompenfation for the evils pafl: !
C 2
Great
20
POEMS
O N
Great God, incomprehenfible, unknown By fenfe, we bow at thine exalted throne.
O, while we beg thine excellence to feel.
Thy facred Spirit to our hearts reveal, 20
And give us of that mercy to partake.
Which thou hall promis’d for the Saviour's fake !
“ Sewell is dead.” Swift-pinion’d Fame thus ■ cry’d.
“ Is Sewell dead,” my trembling tongue reply’d, |
0 what a bleffing in his flight deny’d ! 25-
How oft for us the holy prophet pray’d !
How oft to us the Word of Life convey’d !
By duty urg’d my mournful verfe to clofe,
1 for his tomb this epitaph compofe.
“ Lo, here a man, redeem’d by Jefus' blood, 30 “ A flnner once, but now a faint with God ;
“ Behold ye rich, ye poor, ye fools, ye wife,
“ Nor let his monument your heart furprize ;
“ ’Twill tell you what this holy man has done. Which gives him brighter luftre than the fun.
“ Liften,
21
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
“ Liften, ye happy, from your feats above.
“ I fpeak fincerely, while I fpeak and love,
“ He fought the paths of piety and truth,
“ By thefe made happy from his early youth !
“ In blooming years that grace divine he felt, 40 “ Which refcues finners from the chains of guilt.
“ Mourn him, ye indigent, whom he has fed,
“ And henceforth feek, like him, for living bread ; “ Ev’n Chriji, the bread defcending from above,
“ And alk an int’reft in his faving love, 45
“ Mourn him, ye youth, to whom he oft has told “ God’s gracious wonders from the times of old.
“ I, too have caufe this mighty lofs to mourn, '
“ For he my monitor will not return.
“ O when fhall we to his bleft ftate arrive ? 50
“ When the fame graces in our bofoms thrive.”
<
"On
22
POEMS ON
On the Death of the Rev, Mii. G E O R G E WHITE FIELD. 1770.
TJ¥AIL, happy faint, on thine immortal throne, Polleft of glory, life, and blifs unknown ; ^We hear no more the mufic of thy tongue.
Thy wonted auditories ceale to throno- Thy fermons in unequall’d accents flow’d, § And ev ry bofom with devotion glow’d j Thou didft in ftrains of eloquence refin’d Inflame the heart, and captivate the mind. Unhappy we the fctting fun deplore,
So glorious once, but ah ! it fhines no more. 16
Behold the prophet in his tow’ring flight !
He leaves the earth for iieav’n’s unmeafur’d 1 height.
And worlds unknown receive him from our fight. . ThtKWhileJield wings with rapid courfe his way, And fails to Zion through vaft fcas of day. ig Thy pray’rs, great faint, and thine inceflant cries Have pierc’d the bofom ©f thy native ficies.
Thou
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 23
Thou moon haft feen, and all the ftars of light. How he has wreftkd with his God by night.
He pray’d that grace in ev’ry heart might dwell, 20 He long’d to fee America excel ♦,
He charg’d its youth that ev’ry grace divine Should with full luftre in their condufb ftiine ; That Saviour, which his foul did firft receive.
The greateft gift that ev’n a God can give, 25 He freely offer’d to the num’rous throng.
That on his lips with hft’ning pleafure hung.
“ Take him, ye wretched, for your only good. Take him ye ftarving finners, for your food •, Ye thirfty, come to this life-giving ftream, 30 Ye preachers, take him for your joyful theme ; Take him my deSiV Americans^ he faid.
Be your complaints on his kind bofom laid : Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you. Impartial Saviour is his title due :
“ Walk’d in the fountain of redeeming blood,
“ Youlhallbe fons, and kings, and priefts to God.”
Great
The Countefs of Huntingdon, to whom Mr. Whitefield was Chaplain.
24 P O E M S ON
Great Countefs, * we Americans revere Thy name, and mingle in thy grief fincere j New England deeply feels, - the Orphans mourn, 40 Their more than father will no more return.
But, though arrefted by the hand of death, Whitefield no more exerts his lab’ring breath.
Yet let us view him in th’ eternal Ikies,
Let ev’ry heart to this bright vifion rife ; 4,5
While the tomb fafe retains its facred truft.
Till life divine re-animates his dull.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 2^
On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age.
ROM dark abodes to fair etherlal light Th’ enraptur’d innocent has wing’d her flight j On the kind bofom of eternal love She finds unknown beatitude above.
This know, ye parents, nor her lofs deplore, 5 She feels the iron hand of pain no more ^
The difpenfations of unerring grace.
Should turn your forrows into grateful praife;
Let then no tears for her henceforward flow.
No more diftrefs’d in our dark vale below.
Her morning fun, which rofe divinely bright. Was quickly mantled with the gloom of nignt ; But hear in heav’n’s bleft bow’rs your Nancy fair. And learn to imitate her language there.
Thou, Lord, whom I behold with glory crown d. By what fweet name, and in what tuneful found I) « Wilt
P O E M S o N
“ Wilt thou be prais’d ? Seraphic pow’rs are faint “ Infinite love and majefty to paint.
“ To thee let all their grateful voices raife,
“ And faints and angels join their fongs of “ praife.” 20
Perfedl in blifs flie from her heav’nly home Looks down, and fmiiing beckons you to come ; Why then, fond parents, why thefefruitlefs groans ? Reftrain your tears, and ceafeyourplaintive nioans. Freed from a world of fin, and fnares, and pain, 2 5 Why would you wilh your daughter back again ? No - bow refign’d.’ Let hope your grief control, And check the rifing tumult of the foul.
Calm in the profperous, and adverfe day.
Adore the God who gives and takes away ; 30
Eye him in all, his holy name revere.
Upright your aftions, and your hearts fincere.
Till having fail’d through life’s tempeftuous fea, And from its rocks, and boift’rous billows free, Yourfelves, fafe landed on the blifsful fhore, 35 Shall join your happy babe to part no more.
On
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 27
On the Death of a young Gentleman.
WH O taught thee conflift with the pow’rg of night.
To vanquifh Satan in the fields of fight ?
Who ftrung thy feeble arms with might unknown. How great thy conqueft, and how bright thy crown !
War with each princedom, throne, and pow’r is o’er, . $
The feene is ended to retivn no more.
O could my mufe thy leat on high behold.
How deckt with laurel, how enrich’d with gold ? O could llie hear what praife thine harp err|- ploys,
. How fweet thine anthems, how divine thy joys ! jo What heav’nly grandeur Ihould exalt her ftrain ! What holy raptures in her numbers reign !
To footh the troubles of the mind to peace.
To ftill the tumult of life’s tolfing feas,
D 2
O N
To eafe the anguifli of the parents heart,
What lhali my fympathizing verie impart ? ^Where is the balm to heal fo deep a wound ? Where lhall a fov’reign remedy be found ?
Look, gracious Spirit, from thine heav’nly bow’r. And thy full joys into their bofoms pour ; 20
The raging tempeft of their grief control.
And fpread the dawn of glory through the foul. To eye the path the faint departed trod.
And trace him to the bofom of his God.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 29
To a Lady on the Death of her Hufband.
Grim monarch ! fee, depriv’d of vital breath, A young phylician in the duft of deatn : Doft thou go on inceffant to deftroy.
Our griefs to double, and lay wafte our joy ? Enough thou never yet waft known to fay, $ Though millions die, the vaffals of thy fway : Nor youth, nor fcicnce, nor the ties of love.
Nor aught on earth thy flinty heart can move.
The friend, the fpoufe from his dire dart to favc. In vain we afk the fovereign of the grave. lo Fair mourner, there fee thy lov’d Leonard laid, And o’er him fpread the deep impervious fhade 5, Clos’d are his eyes, and heavy fetters keep His fenfes bound in never-waking deep.
Till time Iball ceafe, till many a ftarry world 15 Shall fall from heav’n, in dire confufion hurl’d. Till nature in her final wreck lhall lie.
And her laft groan fhall rend the azure fky :
Not
O N
JO POEMS
Not, not till then his adive foul lhall claim His body, a divine immortal frame. sc
But fee the foftly-ftealing tears apace Purfue each other down the mourner’s face j But ceafe thy tears, bid ev’ry figh depart.
And call the load of anguilh from thine heart : From the cold Ihell of his great foul arife, 25 And look beyond, thou native of the Ikies ; There fix thy view, where fleeter than the wind Thy Leonard mounts, and leaves the earth behind. Thyfelf prepare to pafs the vale of night To join for ever on the hills of light : 30
To thine embrace his joyful fpirit moves To thee, the partner of his earthly loves ;
He welcomes thee to pleafures more refin’d,
And better fuited to th’ immortal mind.
e O L I,
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
GOLIATH OF GATH,
I Sam. Chap, xvii.
Ye martial powers, and all ye tuneful nine, Inlpire my fong,. and aid my high delign. The dreadful fcenes and toils of war I write,
The ardent warriors, and. the fields of fight:
You beft remember, and you bell can fing 5 The a6ts of heroes to the vocal firing :
Refume the lays with Vv^hich your facred lyre,
Did then the poet and the fage infpire.
Now. front to front the armies were difplay^d. Here Ifrael rang’d, and there the foes array’d ; 10 The hofis on two oppofing mountains ftood.
Thick as the foliage, of .the waving wood ^ Between them an extenfive valley lay.
O’er which the gleaming armour pour’d the day. When from the camp of the Philiftine foes, 15 Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rofe ;
In the dire deeds of bleeding battle ficiU’d,
The monfier ftalks the terror of the field.
From
O N
31 POEMS
t rom Ga/i> he Iprung, Goliath was his name,
Of fierce deportment, and gigantic frame f- 20 A brazen helmet on his head was plac’d,
A coat of mail his form terrific grac’d.
The greaves his legs, the targe his ftioulderspreft : Dreadful in arms high-tow’ring o’er the reft A fpear he proudly wav’d, whofe iron head, 25 Strange to relate, fix hundred fliekels weigh’d ;
He ftrode along, and Ihook the ample field.
While Phcebus blaz’d refulgent on his Ihield ; Through Jacob's race a chilling horror ran.
When thus -the huge, enormous chief began : 30
“ Say, what the caufe that in this proud array “ You fet your battle in the face of day ?
“ One hero find in all your vaunting train,
“ Then fee who lofes, and who wins the plain ;
“ For he who w'ins, in triumph may demand 35 “ Perpetual fervice from the vanquifh’d land :
“ Your armies I defy, your force delpife,
“ By far inferior in Philjlia's eyes :
“ Produce
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 33
“ Produce a man, and let us try the 6ght,
Decide the ccnceft, and the viftor’s right.” 40
Thus challeng’d he : ^ all Ifracl flood amaz’d. And ev^ry chief in confternation gaz’d ^
But JeJfe^s ion in* youthful bloom appears.
And warlike courage far beyond his years :
He left the folds, he left the fiow’ry meads, 45 And foft receffes of the fylvan fhades.
Now 7/rw/h monarch, and his troops arife,
With peals of fhouts afeending to the flcies ; \
In Elah's vale the feene of combat lies. S
When the fair morning blulh’d with orient
red, 50
What David^s fire enjoin’d the fon obey’d,
And fwift of foot tov/ards the trench he came. Where glow’d each bofom with the martial flame. He leaves his carriage to another's care,
And runs to greet his brethren of the war. 55 While yet they fpake xhe giant-chief arofe. Repeats the challenge, .and infiilts his foes ^
E ^tek
POEMS
Stmck with the round, and trembling at the view.
Affrighted Ifrael from its poll withdrew.
“ Obftrve ye this tremendous foe, they ery’d, «o 10 m proud vaunts our armies hath defy’d •
“ Whoever lap him proftr,te on the plain, '
“ Freedom in Ifrael for his houll- ffall gain ;
And on him wealth unknown the king'^wiil’pour, “ And give his royal daughter for his dow’r.” 65
'1 hen Jefe’s youngefc hope ; » My brethren
“ What Ihali be done for him who takes away Reproach from Jaco^, who deftroys t!ie chief, And puts a period to his country’s grief,
“ He vaunts the honours of his arms abroad, 70 ' “ And fcorns the armies of the living God.”
Thus fpoke the youth, th’ attentive people ey’d The wond’rous hero, and again reply’d :
Such the rewards our monarch will beftow,
“ On him who conquers, and deftroys his foe.” 75
Elia^
Tky'i'-
Eliab heard, and kindled Into ire To hear his fliepherd- brother thus inquire.
And thus beeun ? “ What errand brought thee ?
O O
“ Who keeps thy flock ? or does it go aftray ?
“ I know the bafe ambition of thine heart, 8q “ But back in fafety from the field depart.”
Eliab thus to J'eJfe's youngefl: heir,
Exprcfs’d his wrath in accents moft fevere.
When to his brother mildly he reply’d,
“ What have I done ? or what the caufe to “chide?” 85
The words were told before the king, who fent For the young hero to his royal tent :
Before the monarch dauntlefs he beganj “ For this Philiftine fail no heart of man ;
“ I’ll take the vale, and with the giant fight: 96
“ I dread not all his boafts, nor all his might.”
E 2 When
O JT
30
o E M S
When thus the king : Dar’ft thou a tripling go,
And venture conrbat with fo great a foe ?
‘ Who all his days has been inur’d to fight,
“ And made its deeds his ftudy and delight ; ' 95 “ Battles and bloodfiied brought the monfier forth, “ And clouds and whirlwinds uihcr’d in his birth.” When Dav/J thus : “ I kept the fleecy care,
“ And out there rufii’d a lion and a bear ;
“ A tender lamb the hungry lion took, 100
“ And with no other weapon than my crook “ Bold I purfu’d, and chas’d him o’er the field,
« The prey deliver’d, and the felon kill’d ;
“ As thus the lion and the bear I flew,
“ So fhal! Goliath fall, and all his crew : 105
“ The God, who fav’d me from thefe beafts of “ prey,
“ By me this monfcer in the duft fliali lay.”
So David Ipoke. The wond’ring king reply’d ;
“ Go thou v/ith heav’n and viclory on thy fide :
“ This coat of m.ail, this fword gird on,” he faid, jjQ
And plac’d a mighty helmet on his head:
The
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 37
The coat, the fword, the helm he laid afide.
Nor chofe to venture with thofe arms imtry’d. Then took his ftaff, and to the neighb’rins brook
Inftant he ran, and thence five pebbles took. 1 15 Mean time defcended to PhiliJHa’s fon A radiant cherub, and he thus begun :
“ Goliath, well thou know’ll thou haft defy’d “ Yon Hebrew armies, and their God deny’d :
“ Rebellious wretch ! audacious worm ! fbr- “ bear, 120
“ Nor tempt the vengeance of their God too far : “ ’Them, who with his omnipotence contend,
“ No eye fhall pity, and no arm defend :
“ Proud as thou art, in fhort liv’d glory great,
“ I come to tell thee thine approaching fate. 125 “ Regard my words. The judge of all the gods,
“ Beneath whofe fteps the tow’ring mountain itpds. Will give thine armies to the favage brood,
“ That cut the liquid air, or range the wood.
‘‘ Thee too a well-aim’d pebble fhall deftroy, X30 “ And thou flialt perifh bp a beardjefs boy :
“ Such
POE M S ON -
“ Such is the mandate from, the realms above,
“ Anti ihould I try the vengeance to remove,' C “ Myfeif a rebel to my king wouW prove. 5 “ Gohalh lay, lhall grace to him be fhown, 135
“ Who dares heav’ns monarch, and infuks his
throne . ' . : *
“ Your words are loft on me,” the giant'
cries,
While fear and wrath contended in his eyes,
When thus the melTenger from heav’n replies : ^ Provoke no more Jehovah's awful hand 140 To hurl its vengeance on thy guilty land :
“He grafps the thunder, and, he wings the “ ftorm, '
“ Servants their fov’reign’s orders to perform,”
The angel fpoke, and turn’d his eyes away. Adding new radiance to the rifing day. 145
Now 'David comes : the fatal ftones demand His left, the ftafF engag’d his better hand :
The
39
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
The giant mov’d, and from his tow’ring height Survey’d the {tripling, and difdain’d the fight. And thus began : “ Am I a dog with thee ? 150 “ Bring’ft thou no armour, but a ftaff to me ?
“ The gods on thee their vollied curfes pour,
“ And beafts and birds of prey thy flefli de-
vour.
David undaunted thus, “ Thy fpear and Ihield ‘ Shall no protection to thy body yield :
‘ JebovaDs name no other arms I bear, ^
‘ I ask no other in this glorious war.
‘ To-day the Lord of Holts to me will give ■ Vid’ry, to-day thy doom thou lhalt receive ;
• The fate you threaten lhall your own be- “ come, i5o
And bealts lliall be your animated tomb.
That all the earth’s inhabitants may know That there’s a God, who governs all below : This great alTembly too lhall witnefs Hand,
Tfiat needs nor fword, nor fpear, ih’ Almighty’s hand: 16^
“ The
40
O N
POEMS
“ The battle his, the conqueft he bellows.
And to our pow’r configns our hated foes.”
Thus David Ipoke ; Goliath heard and came 1 o meet the Jiero in the field of fame.
Ah ! fatal meeting to thy troops and thee, 170 Eut thou Waft deaf to the divine decree j 'i oung David meets thee, meets thee not in vainj 'I'ls thine to perilh on th’ enfanguin’d plain.
And now the youth the forceful pebble flung, Philiftia trembled as it whizz’d along ; 175
In his dread forehead, where the helmet ends.
Juft o’er the brows the well -aim’d ftone defcends. It pierc’d the fluill, and fliatter’d all the brain, Prone on his face he tumbled to the plain :
Goliath's fail, no fmaller terror yields 1 go
Than riving thunders in aerial fields :
The foul ftiil ling’red in its lov’d abode.
Till conq’ring David o’er the giant ftrode :
Goliath's fword then laid its mafter dead,
And from the body hew’d the ghaftly head ; 1S5
The
41
VARIOUS SUBJECT’S.
The blood in gufhing torrents drench’d the plains, The foul found paffage tlirough the Ipouting veins.
And now aloud th’ illuftrious viCtor faid,
“ Where are your boaftings now yoUr cham- \ “ pion’s dead ?” C
Scarce bad he fpoke, when the Philiftinss fled : ^
But fled in vain ; the conqu’ror fwift purfu’d : What fcenes of daughter ! and what feas of blood 1 There Saul thy thoufands grafp’d th* impurpled fand
In pangs of death the conquefl: of thine hartdj And David there were thy ten thoufands laid: Thus Ifrad's damfels mufically play’d.
Near Gath and Ekron many an hero lay, Breath’d out their fouls, and curs’d the ligl^of day :
Their fury, quench’d by death, no longer burns. And David with Goliath’s head returns, 200 To Salem brought, but in his tent he plac’d The load of armour which the giant grac’d*
F His
Thoughts
I i-?
o’
42 POE MS ON
His monarch faw him coming from the war.
And thus demanded of the fon of Ner.
“ Say, who is this amazing youth ?” he cry’d, 205 When thus the leader of the hoft reply’d ;
“ As lives thy foul I know: not whence he fprun “ So great in prowcfs though in years fo young;
Inquije whole fon is he,” the fov’reign faid,*^
“ Before, whofe conq’ring arm PUliflia fled.” 21a Before the king behold the ftrlpling Hand,
CcliatFi head depending from his hand :
To him the king ; « Say of what martial line “■ Art thou, young hero, and what fire was thine ?” He humbly thus ; “ the fon of JeJfe I ; 215
“ I came the glories of the field to try.
“ Small is my tribe, but valiant in the fight ;
“ Small is my city, but thy royal right,”
Then take tire promis’d gifts,” the monarch cry’ll.
Conferring riches and the royal bride : 230
“ Knit to my foul for ever thou remain
%9
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 43-
Thoughts on the Works of Provide
NCE.
A RISE, my foul, on wings enraptur’d, rife * To praife the monarch of the earth and flties.
Whole goodnefs and beneficence appear As round its centre moves the rolline year.
Or when the morning giov/s with rofy charms, 5 Or the fun flumbers in the ocean’s arms ;
Of light divine be a rich portion lent To guide my foul, and favour my indent.
Cekftial mufe, my arduous flight fuftain.
And raife my mind to a feraphic ftrain ! i©
Ador’d for ever be the God unfeen.
Which round the fun revolves this vaft machine Though to his eye its mafs a point appears :
Ador d the God that whirls lurrounding Ipheres, Which firfl: ordain’d that mighty Sol lliould reign -
The peerlefs monarch of th’ ethereal train :
F 2 Of
44
P O E M S ON
-Of mijes twice forty miJIions is his height.
And yet his radiance dazzles mortal fight So Jar beneath — from him th’ extended earth Vigour derives, and ev’ry flow’ry birth : 20
Vafl: through her orb Qie moves with eafy grace Around her Fh/sbi^^ in unbounded fpace ;
True to her courfe th’ impetuous llorm derides, Triumphant o’er the winds, and furging tides.
Almighty, in thele wond’rous works of thine, 25 What Povfr^ what Wifdom, and wliat Goodnefs fiiine ?
And are thy wonders, Lord, by men explor’4, And yet creating glory unador’d !
Creation finilcs in various beauty gay, / While day to night, and night fucceeds today • 39 That Wifdom^ which attends Jehovah's ways.
Shines moft confpicuous in the folar rays- : Without them, deftitute of heat and light.
This world would be the reign of endlels night:
In
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 45
In their excefs how would our race complain, -Abhorring life ! how hate its length’ned chain ! From air aduft what num’rous ills would rife ? What dire contagion taint the burning flcies ? What peftilential vapours, fraught with death, Would rife, and overlpread the lands beneath ? 40
Hail, fmiling morn, that from the orient maiir Afcending doft adorn the heav’nly plain 1 So rich, fo various are thy beauteous dies.
That fpread through all the circuit of the Ikies, That, full of thee, my foul in rapture foars, 45 And thy great God, the caufe of all adores.
O’er beings infinite his love extends,
His Wifdom rules them, and his Pow’r defends. When taflcs diurnal tire the human frame,
The fpirks faint, and dim the vital flame,
Then too that ever aftive bounty fhines.
Which not infinity of fpace confines.
The fable veil, that Night in filencc draws, ' -Conceals effeds, but fhews th’ Smighty Caufe %
Nierht
^ O E M S ON .
Night feals m fleep the wide creation fair, er And all is peaceful but the brow of care/
Again, gay as the day before, *
Wakes ev’ry eye, but what fliall wake no more ; Again the face of nature is renew’d.
Which ftill appears harmonious, h.r, and good. 6o May grateful (trains falute the ftiilingmorn, Before its beams the eaftera hills adorn I
Shall day to day and night to night confpire To Ihow the goodnefs of the Almighty Sire ?
This mental voice ftall man regardlefs hear, 65 And neve!-, never raife the filial pray’r ?
To-day, O hearken, nor your folly mourn For time mifpent, that never will return^
Eul lee the fons of vegetation rile,
And fpread their leafy banners to the Ikies. yo All-wife Almighty Providence we trace In trees, and plants, and all the flow’ry race j As clear as in the nobler frame of man.
All lovely copies of the Maker’s plan.
Tke
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
The pow’i- the lame that forms a ray of light, 75 That call’d creation from eternal night.
“ Let there be light,” he faid : from his profound Old Cbacs heard, and trembled at the found : Swift as the word^ infpir’d by pow’r divine. Behold the light around its maker fhine. So The firfl fair prodwfl of th’ omnific God,
And now through all his works diffus’d abroad.
As reafoQ’s pow’rs by day our God difclofe.
So we may trace him in the night’s repofe :
Say what is fleep ? and dreams how palling ftrange ! 85
When adion ceafes, and ideas ranae Licentious and unbounded o’er the plains.
Where Fancy’s queen in giddy triumph reigns. Hear in foft ftrains the dreaming lover figh To a kind fair, or rave in jealoufy ; po
Gn pleafure now, and now on vengeance bent. The lab’ring paffions ftruggle for a vent.
What pow’r, O man ! thy reafon then reftores.
So long fufpended in nodurnal hours ?
’ What
ft. r'
5 '
, , ..au uiiiu rcuirns me mental train, ( And gives improv'd thine active pow’rs again ? -From thee, O man, what gratitude fhould rife ! And-, when from balmy deep thou op’ll thine' eyes, '
Let thy firll thoughts be prailes to the fldes. How merciful our. God who thus imparts ic Q’erdowing tides of joy to human hearts.
When wants and woes might be our righteous lo Our God foi-getting, by our God forgot !
Among the mental pow’rs a queftion rofe,
« What moll the image of th’ Eternal Ihows ?” ^Vhen thus to Rccijon fib let Funcy rove)
Her great companion Ipoke immortal Love.
“ Say, mighty pow’r, how long Ihall llrife pre- vail.
And wi{h its murmurs load the whifp’rino- “ gale? ^
Refer the caufe to RecoUeHion's Ihrine, 1 1© Who loud proclaims my origin divine,
VARIOUS SUBJECTS 49
“ The caufe wlience heav’n and earth began to be, “ And is not man immortaliz’d by me ?
ReafoiiXfiX. this moft caufclefs ftrife fubfide.” Tlius Love pronounc’d, and Reafon thus re- ply’d. 115
“ Thy birth, celeftial queen ! ’tis mine to own, “ In thee refplendent is the Godhead fhown •,
“ Thy words perlliade, my foul enraptur’d feds “ Refiftlefs beauty which thy fmile reveals.” Ardent fhe fpoke, and, kindling at her charms, no
She clafp’d the blooming goddefs in her arms.
Infinite Love where’er we turn our eyes Appears ; this ev’ry creature’s wants fupplies i This moft is heard in Nature’s conftant voice. This makes the morn, and this the eye re- joice j 12^
This bids the foft’ring rains and dews defcend To nouriih all, to ferve one gen’ral entl,
Q Ths
5® P O E M S ou
The good of man ; yet man ungrateful pays But little homage, and but little praife. '
To him, whcffe works array’d with mercy
.y
What longs Ihould rife, how conftant, how dh le’ine!
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. $t
To a Lady on the Death of Three Relations. ~
WE trace the pow’i* of Death from tomb to tomb,
And his are all the ages yet to come.
’Tis his to call the planets from on high|
T o blacken Phwhus, and diffolve the flcy ;
His too, when all in his dark realms are hurl’d, $ From its firm bafe to lhake the folid world %
His fatal fceptre rules the fpacious whole.
And trembling nature rocks from pole to pole.
Awful he moves, and wide his wings are ^read: Behold thy brother number’d with the dead ! lo From bondage freed, the exulting fpirit flies Beyond Olympus^ and thefe ftarry fkieS;
Loft in our woe for thee, bleft fhade, we mourfi In vain ; to earth thou never muft return.
Thy fifters too, fair mourner, feel the dart Of Death, and with frefli torture rend thine heart;
G 2 Weep
P O E M S O N
Weep not for them, who wifli thine happy mind To rife with them, and leave the world behind.
As a young plant by hurricanes up torn, 20 So near its parent lies the newly born —
But ’midft the bright ethereal train behold It Ihines fuperior on a throne of gold :
Then, mourner, ceafe-, let hope thy tears reflrain, Smile on the tomb, and footh the raging pain. 2 5 On yon bleft regions fix thy longing view, Mindlefs of fublunary fcenes below ;
Afcend the facred mount, in thought arife.
And feek fubftantial, and immortal joys •,
Where hope receives, where faith to vifion fprings, 30
And raptur’d feraphs tune th’ immortal firings To ftrains extatic. Thou the chorus join.
And to thy father tune the praifc divine.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 53
To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady.
WHERE contemplation finds her facred fpring.
Where heav’nly mufic makes the arches ring, Where virtue reigns unfully’d and divine.
Where wifdom thron’d, and all the graces fhine. There fits thy fpoufe amidft the radiant throng, 5 While praife eternal warbles from her tongue j There choirs angelic ftiout her welcome round. With perfea blifs, and peerlefs glory crown’d.
While thy dear mate, to flefii ho more confin’d. Exults a bkft, an heav’n-afcended mind, 10 Say in thy breaft lhall floods of forrow rife ?
Say {hall its torrents overwhelm thine eyes ? Amid the feats of heav’n a place is free.
And angels ope their bright, ranks for thee j For thee they wait, and with expectant eye 15 Thy fpoufe leans downward from .th’ empyreal
. fky ; •
“ O come
54
POEM S ON
O come away, her longing Ipirit cries,
“ And fliare with me the raptures of the fkies.
“ Our blifs divine to mortals is unknownj “ Immortal life and glory are our own. zq
“ There too may the dear pledges of our love Arrive, and tafte with us the joys above ;
“ Attune the harp to more than mortal lays,
“ And join with us the tribute of their praife “ To him, who dy’d ftern juftice to atone, 25 “ And make eternal glory ajl our own.
“ He in his death Hew ours, and, as he rofe,
“ He crufh’d the dire dominion of our foes ;
“ Vain were their hopes to put the God to flight,
“ Chain us to hell, and bar the gates of light,”
Shelpoke, and turn’d frommortal Icenes her eyes. Which beam’d celeftial radiance o’er the Ikies.
Then thou, dear man, no more with grief re- tire.
Let grief no longer damp devotion’s fire.
But rile fublime, to equal blifs alpire, ^5
Thy
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 55
Thy fighs no more be wafted by the wind.
No more complain, but be to heav’n refign’d. ’Twas thine t’ unfold the oracles divine.
To footh our woes the talk was alfo thine; ’ Now forrow is incpmbent pn thy heart, 40 Permit the mule a cordial to impart ;
Who can to thee their tend’rell aid refufe ?
To dry thy tears how longs the heav’nly mufe I
Aa.
ATT E N D my lays, ye ever honour’d nine, ^ Affift my labours, and my ftrains refine ;
In fmoctheft numbers pour the notes along,
For bright Aurora now demands my fong.
Aurora hail, and all the thoufands dies, 5 Which deck thy progrefs through the vaulted Ikies ;
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays.
On ev’ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays ; Harmonious lays the feather’d race refume.
Dart the bright eye, and ftiake the painted
Ye fhady groves, your verdant gloom difplay To fiiield your poet from the burning day : Calliope awake the facred lyre.
While thy fair fitters fan the pleafing fire :
The
58 POEMS ON
An H y M N to the Evening.
O O N as the fun forfook the eaftern main The pealing thunder Ihook the heav’nly plain j
Majeftic grandeur ! From the zephyr’s wing, Exhales the incenfc of the blooming Ipring.
Soft purl the ftreams, the birds renew their
notes, _
5
And through the air their mingled myfic floats.
Through all the heav’ns what beauteous dies are fpread !
But the weft glories in the deepeft red ;
So may our breafts with ev’ry virtue glow.
The living temples of our God below ! i©
Fill’d with the praife of him who gives the light.
And draws the fable curtains of the nighty
Let
VARIOUSSUBJECTS.
Let placid (lumbers footh each weary mind.
At morn to wake more heav’nly, more refin’d ;
So lliall the labours of the day begin 15
More pure, more guarded from the fnares of fin.
Night’s leaden fceptre feals my dtowfy eyes, Then ceafe, my fong, till fair Aurora rife.
H 2
Isaiah
6®
POEMS ON
Isaiah Ixiii. i— '8.
AY, heav’nly mufe, what king, or mighty God,
That moves fublime from Idumea’s road ?
In Bozrah's dies, with martial glories join’d,
His purple vefture waves upon the wind.
Why thus enrob’d delights he to appear 5
In the dread image of the Pow’r of war ?
Gomprefs’d in wrath the fwelling wine-prefs groan’d.
It bled, and pour’d the gufliing purple round.
“ Mine was the adt,” th’ Almighty Saviour faid.
And fhook the dazzling glories of his head, i® “ When all forfook I trod the prefs alone,
“ And conquer’d by omnipotence my own ;
“ For man’s releafe fuftain’d the pond’rous load, « For man the wrath of an immortal God :
« T®
6i
15
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. “ To execute th’ Eternal’s dread command “ My foul I facrific’d with willing hand ;
“ Sinlefs I flood before the avenging frown, “ Atoning thus for vices not my own.”
His eye the ample field of battle round Survey’d, but no created fuccours found 5 His own omnipotence fuftain’d the fight,
His vengeance funk the haughty foes in night , Beneath his feet the proflrate troops were fpread; And round him lay the dying, and the dead.
Great God, what light’ning flafhes from thine
im
eyes
25
What pow’r withfiands if thou indignant rife ?
Againfl thy Zion though her foes may rage. And all their cunning, all their ftrength engage. Yet file ferenely on thy bofom lies,
Smiles at their arts, and all their force defies. 30
On Recolle
C T I O NT.
A/f EME begin. Infpire, ye facred nine. Your vent’rous yfm in her great defign. immortal pow’r, I trace thy ipring : Affift my drains, while I thy glories fing^
1 he a(5ls of long departed years, by thee 5 Recover’d, in due order rang’d we fee :
1 hy pow’r the long-forgotten calls from night TJiat fweetly plays before the fight.
Mfm^ in our noclurnal vifions pours The ample treafure of her fecret ftores ;
Swift from above fire wings her filent fliaht
Through realms,' fair regen° of the
night ;
And, in her pomp of images difplay’d,
To the high-raptur’d poet gives her aid.
Through the unbounded regions of the mind, 15 DifFufing light celeftial and refin’d.
The
I®
6g
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
The heav’niy paints the aftions done
By ev’ry tribe beneath tlie rolling fun,
Mneme^ enthron'd within the human breaft. Has vice condemn’d, and ev’ry virtue bleft. 20 How fweet the found when w^e her plaudit hear ? Sweeter than mufic to the ravifli’d ear,
Sweeter than Mar 0's entertaining ftrains Refounding through the groves, and hills, and plains.
But how is Mmme dreaded by the race, 25
Who fcom her warnings, and defpife her grace ? By her unveil’d each horrid crime appears.
Her awful hand a cup of wormwood bears.
Days, years mifpent, O what a hell of woe !
Hers the worfh tortures that our fouls can know.
Now eighteen years their deftin’d courfe have run.
In fall: fucce/Tion round the central fun.
How did the follies of that period pafs Unnotic’d, but behold them writ in brafs !
In
64 POEMS o w
In Recolleftion fee them frefli return, 35
And fure ’tis mine to be alham’d, and mourn.
O Virtue^ fmiling in immortal green.
Do thou exert thy pow’r, and change the fcene ; Be thine employ to guide my future days.
And mine to pay the tribute of my praife. 49
Of RecoUeSlion fuch the pow’r enthron’d In ev’ry breaft, and thus her pow’r is own’d.
The wretch, who dat’d the vengeance of the Ikies, At laft awakes in horror and furprize.
By her alarm’d, he fees impending fate, 45
He howls in anguifli, and repents too late.
But O ! what peace, what joys are hers t’ impart To ev’ry holy, ev’ry upright heart !
Thrice bleft the man, who, in her facred llirine. Feels himfelf Ihdter’d from the wrath divine ! 5©
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 65
On Imagination.
rj^HY various works, imperial queen, we fee. How bright their forms ! how deck’d with pomp by; thee !
Thy wond’rous adts in beauteous order Hand, And all atteft how potent is thine hand.
From Helicon’s refulgent heights attend, §
Ye facred choir, and my attempts befriend :
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue.
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my fong.
Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies. Till fome lov’d objedl ftrikes her wand’ring
eyes, 19
Whofe filken fetters all the fenfes bind.
And foft captivity involves the mind.
I Imagi~
66
POEMS on
15
Imagmation ! who can fing thy force ?
Or who defcribe the fwiftnefs of thy courfe? Soaring through air to ftnd the bright abode,
Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God,
We on thy pinions can furpafs the wind.
And leave the rolling univerfe behind :
From ftar to ftar the mental optics rove,
Meafure the fkies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grafp the mighty whole.
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded foul
20
1 'hough Winter frowns to Fancfs raptur’d eyes
The fields may flourilh, and gay fcenes arife;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands, 25 And bid their waters murmur o’er the fands.
Fair Flora may refume her fragrant reign.
And with her flow’ry riches deck the plain ; Sylvanus may dilFufe his honours round.
And all the foreft may with leaves be crown’d : 3,0
Show’rs
VA’^RIOUS SUBJECTS. 67
Show’rs may defcend, and dews their gems dif- clofe,
And nedlar fparkle on the blooming rofe.
Such is thy pow’r, nor are thine orders vain^
O thou the leader of the mental train :
In full perfeftion all thy works are v/rought, 35 And thine the fceptre o'er the realms of thought. Before thy throne the fubjebt-paffions bow.
Of fubjedt-paffions fov'reign ruler Thou ;
At thy command joy ruihes on the heart,
And through the glowing veins the fpirits dart, 40
Fancy might now her filken pinions try To rife from earth, and fweep th’ expanfe on high ;
F rom Tithon's bed now might Aurora rife.
Her cheeks all glowing with celeftial dies,
While a pure ftream of light o’erflows the^ fkies. 45
The monarch of the day I might behold.
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
I 2 But
68 POEMS OK
But I rcluiftant leave the plealing views. Which Fancy dreffes to delight the Mufe ; Winter auftere forbids me to afpire.
And northern tempefts damp the rifing fire 5 They chill the tides of Fanefs flowing fea, Ceafe then, my fong, ceafe the unetjUal lay.
A Fu-
VARIO'US SUBJECTS. %
A Funeral POEM on the Death of C. E. an Infant of Twelve Months.
^T'^HROUGH airy roads he wings his inflant
flight
To purer regions of celeftial light ; Enlarg’d he fees unnumber’d fyftems roll. Beneath him fees the univerfal v/hole.
“ E’er vke triumphant had polTcfs’d my heart,
“ E’er yet the temptir had beguii’d my heart,
“ E’er yet on fin’s bafe actions I was bent,
“ E’er yet I knew temptation’s dire intent j “ E’er yet the laih for horrid crimes I felt,
“ E’er vanity had led my way to guilt,
“ But, foon arriv’d at my celeftial goal,
“ F ull glories rufli on my expanding foul.” Joyful he fpoke : exulting cherubs round Ciapt their glad wings, the heav’nly vaults relbund
20
Say, parents, why this unavailing moan ? 25
hy heave your penfive bofoms with the groan ? To Charles., the happy fubjefb of my long,
A brighter w^orld, and nobler ftrains belong.
Say would you rear him from the realms above By thoughtlefs wilhes, and prepoft’rous love .? 30 Doth his felicity increafe your pain 1 Or could you welcome to this world again The heir of blifs ? with a fuperior air Methinks he anfwers with a fmile fevere,
“ Thrones and dominions cannot tempt me^
“ there,”
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 71
But ftill yovi cry, “ Can we the figh forbear,
“ And ftill and ftill mud we not pour the tear ?
“ Our only hope, more dear than vital breath,
“ Twelve moons revolv’d, becomes the prey of “ death ;
“ Delightful infant, nightly vifions give 4® “ Thee to our arms, and we with joy receive, “We fain would clafp the Phantom to our bread,
“ The Phantom flies, and leaves the foul unbled.”
To yon bright regions let your faith afcend, Prepare to join your deared infant friend In pleafures without meafure, without end.
Ta
To Captain H— d, of the 65th Regiment,
SAY, mufe divine, can hoftile fcenes delight The warrior’s bofom in the fields of fight ? Lo ! here, the chriftian, and the hero join With mutual grace to form the man divine.
In H fee with pleafure and furprize, 5
Where valour kindles, and where virtue lies :
Go, hero brave, ftill grace the poll of famie.
And add new glories to thine honour’d name.
Still to the field, and ftill to virtue true :
Britamia glories in no fon like you. 10
m
To
To the Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majcfty't, Principal Secre- tary of State -for North America, &c.
Ha I L, happy day, when, firjling like the morn,
Fair Freedom rofe New-England to adorn :
The northern clime beneath her genial ray, Daftfnouth^ congratulates thy blifsful fway :
Elate with hope her race no longer mourns,
Each foul expands, each grateful bofom burnSj^ While in thine hand with pleafure we behold The filken reins, and Freedom's charms unfold. Long loft to realms beneath the northern Ikies She fnines fupreme, while h^itdfadlion dies : lO
Soon as appear’d the Goddefs long defir’d.
Sick at the view, llie languilli’d and expir’d ; Thus from the fplendors of the morning light The owl in fadnefs feeks the caves of night.
No more, in mournful ftrain 15'
Of wrongs, and grievance unredrefs’d complain, * No longer lhall thou dread the iron chain.
Which wanton Tyranny with lawlefs hand Had made, and with it meant t’ enflave the land.
Should you, my lord, while you perufe my
20
^Vonder from whence my love of Freedom fprung. Whence flow thefe wiflies forthe common good, By feeling hearts alone beft underftood,
I, young in life, by feeming cruel fate
Was. fnatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy feat : 25
What pangs excruciating muft molefl:.
What forrows labour in my parent’s breafl: ? Steel’d was that foul and by no mifery mov’d That from a father feiz’d his babe belov’d ;
Such, fuch . my cafe. And pray
|
can I |
then but |
|
fway ? |
30 |
|
For |
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 75
For/avours paft, great Sir, our thanks are due. And thee we afk thy favours to renew.
Since in thy pow’r, as in thy will before.
To footh the griefs, which thou did’ft once de- plore. 35
May heav’nly grace the facred fanftion giye To all thy works, and thou for ever live Not only on the wings of fleeting Fame^
Though praife immortal crowns the patriot’s name, ,
But to condu(5t to heav’ns refulgent fane, 49 May fiery courfers fweep th’ ethereal plain.
And bear thee upwards to that bleft abode. Where, like the prophet, thou fhalt find t^y God.
K 2
ODE
POEMS ON
7^
O D E TO NEPTUNE.
On I'/lrs. W — ’s Voyage to England.
I.
WHILE raging tempeils iliake the flaorCj Whiled' to’ thunders round us roar.
And fweep impetuous o’er the plain Be ftiU, O tyrant of the main ;
Nor let thy brow contracted frowns betray, 5 While ray Sufannah feims the wat’ry way.
II.
The Pcte;V propitious hears the lay.
The blue-c^/’d daughters of the fea With fweeter cadence glide along.
And ‘Thames rerponfive joins the fong. to
Pleas’d v/ith their notes Sol llieds benign his ray. And double radiance decks the face of day.
III. To
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 77
III.
To court thee to Britannia’s arms Serene the dimes and mild the &y,
Eler rc£[ion boalts unnunioerd charm^^
, Thy welcome fmiles in ev’ry eye.
Thy promife, Neptune keep, record my pray’r, Nor give my wiilies to tne empty air.
Bojlon, OMeher- 10,
T«
Madam.
78 POEMSos
To a Lady on her coming to North-America ■with iier Son, for the Recovery of her Health.
|Ndulgent mufe ! my grov’ling mind infpire. And fill my bofcm with celdtial fire.
See from Jamaica's fervid ihore fhe moves.
Like the fair mother of the blooin-ing loves. When from above the Goddefs with her hand 5 Eans the foft breeze, and lights upon the land ; Thus fhe on Neptune's wat’ry realm reclin’d Appear’d, and thus invites the ling’ring wind.
“ Arife, ye winds, America explore,
“ W aft me, ye gales, from this malignant
“ ; 10
“The Northern milder climes I long to greet,
“ There hope that health will my arrival meet.” Soon as fhe fpoke in my ideal view The winds affented, and the veffel flew.
Madam, your fpoufe bereft of wife and fon, 15 In the grove’s dark recedes pours his moan Each branch, wide-fpreading to the ambient iky. Forgets its verdure, and fubmits to die.
From thence I turn, and leave the fultry plain. And fwift purfue thy paflage o’er the main : 20
The fliip arrives before the fav’ring wind.
And makes the Philadelphian port affign’d.
Thence I attend you to Boftonid’s arms.
Where gen’rous friendlhip ev’ry boforn warms : Thrice welcome here ! may health revive again, 2 5 Bloom on thy cheek, and bound in ev’ry vein ! Then back return to gladden ev’ry heart.
And give your fpoufe his foul’s far dearer part. Receiv’d again with what a fweet furprize.
The tear- in tranfport darting from his eyes ! 3®
While his attendant fon with blooming grace Springs to his father’s ever dear embrace.
With Ihouts of joy Jamaica’s rocks refound,
With Ihouts of joy the country rings around.
O N
To a Lady on her remarkable Prcfervation in an Hurricane in North- Carolina.
'HOUGH -thou did’ft hear the cempeft from afar,
And fek’ft the horrors of the wat’ry war.
To me unknown, yet on this peaceful fhore Methinks I hear the ftorni tumultuous roar. And how ftern Boreas with impetuous hand 5 Compell’d the Nereids to ufurp the land.
Reluftant rofe the daughters of the main,
And flow afcen Jing glided o’er the plain,
Till ALolus in his rapid chariot drove In gloomy grandeur from the vault above ; 10
Furious he comes. His winged fons obey Their frantic fire, and madden all the fea.
The billows rave, the wind’s fierce tyrant roars. And with his thund’ring terrors fiaakes the Ihores : Broken by waves the veflel’s frame is rent, 15 And flrows with planks the wat’ry dement.
But
8i
VARIOUS subject!
But thee, Maria, a kind Nereid’ s fhield Pfererv’d from finking, ahd thy torm Upheld t And fure fome heav’rily oracle defigri’d At that dread crifis to infl;ru6t thy mind 20
Things of eternal confeqUence to weigh.
And to thine heart juft feelings to convey Of things above, and of the future doorri.
And what the births of the dread world to come;
From tofling feas I welcome thee to land. 25 “ Refign her, Nereid,” ’twas thy God’s command. Thy fpoufe late buried, as thy fears conceiv’d^ Again returns, thy fears are all reliev’d :
Thy daughter blooming with fuperior grace Again thou fee’ft, again thine arms embrace ;
O come, and joyful ftiow thy fpoufe his heir.
And what the bleflings of maternal care !
Si
T«
To a Lady and her Children, on the Death of her Son and their Brother.
Md.
/^’Erwhelming forrow now demands my fong : From death the overwhelming forrow fprung. What flowing tears ? What hearts with grief op^ preft ?
What fighs on fighs heave the fond parent’s breaft ?
The brother weeps, the haplefs fillers join 5 Th’ increafing woe, and fwell the cryftal brine ; The poor, who once his gen’rous bounty fed. Droop, and bewail their benefador dead.
In death the friend, the kind companion lies.
And in one death what various comfort dies ! !•
Th’ unhappy mother fees the fanguine rill Forget to flow, and nature’s wheels Hand ftill. But -fee from earth his fpirit far remov’d.
And know no grief recals your beft-belov’d :
He,
mmsamm.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
He, upon pinions fwifcer than the wind.
Has left mortality’s fad fcenes behind For joys to this terreftrial ftate unknown.
And glories richer than the monarch’s crow Of virtue’s fteady courfe the prize behold !
What blifjful wonders to his mind unfold !
But of celeftial joys I fing in vain :
Attempt not, mufe, the too advent rous ftrain.
No more in briny ftiow’rs, ye friends around. Or bathe his clay, or wafte them on the ground : Still do you weep, ftill wilb for his return ? 2
How cruel thus to wilh, and thus to mourn ?
No more for him the ftreams of forrow pour.
But hafte to join him'on the heaw’nly Ihore,
On harps of gold to tune immortal lays.
And to your God immortal an
$4
P Q E M S ON
To a pENTLEMAN and Lady on the Death of
N "Death's domain intent I fix my eyes,
Where the great conqu’ror has his fpoils bellow’d j There there the offspring of fix thoufand years 5 In endlefs numbers to my view appears :
Whole kingdoms in his gloomy den are thrull. And nations mix with their primeval dull : Infatiate Hill he gluts the ample tomb ;
His is the prelent, his the age to come. jo
See here a brother, here a filler fpread.
And a fweet daughter mingled with the dead.
But, Madam., let your grief be laid afide.
And let )the fountain of your tears be dry’d,
In vain they fiow to wet the dully plain,
Your fighs are wafted to the lldes in vain.
j:he Lady’s Brother and Siller, and a Child of the Name Avis, aged one Year.
Wfiere human nature in vail ruin lies : With penfive mind I fearch the drear abode.
Your
I
’1
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 85
Your pains they witnefs, but they can no more, While Death reigns tyrant o’er this mortal fliore.
The glowing ftars and filver queen of light At laft m.uft perilh in the gloom of night ; 20
Refign thy friends to that Almighty hand,
Which gave them life, and bow to his command Thine Avis give without a murm’ring heart. Though half thy foul be fated to depart.
To Ihining guards confign thine infant care 25 To waft triumphant through the feas of air :
Her foul enlarg’d to heav’nly pleafure fprings.
She feeds on truth and uncreated things. Methinks I hear her in the realms above.
And leaning forward with a filial love, 30
Invite you there to flrare immortal blifs Unknown, untafted in a ftate like this.
With tow’ring hopes, and growing grace arife. And feek beatitude beyond the Ikies.
©a
> A
POEMS ON
On the Death of Dr. SAMUEL MARSHALL. 1771.
glooms look
back,
Through thickeft
immortal fliade,
On that confuhon which thy death has made ;
Or from Olympus' height look down, and fee A y <-jwn involv’d in grief bereft of thee.
Thy hucy fees thee mingle with the dead, 5
And rends the graceful treffes from her head. Wild in her woe, with grief unknown oppreft Sigh follows figh deep heaving from her breaft.
Too quickly fled, ah ! whither art thou gone ? Ah ! loft for ever to thy wife and fon ! 10
The haplefs child, thine only hope and heir. Clings round his mother’s neck, and weeps his forrows there.
The lofs of thee on Tyler's foul returns.
And Bofion for her dear phyflcian mourns.
When
VARIOUSSUBJECTS. 87
When ficknefs call’d for Marjhalfs healing hand, *5
With what compaffion did his foul expand ?
In him we found the father and the friend ;
In life how lov’d ! how honour’d in his end !
And muft not then our jEfculapus ftay To bring his ling’ring infant into day ?
The babe uaborn in the dark womb is And feems in anguilli for its father loft.
Gone is Apollo from his houfe of earth.
But leaves the fweet memorials of his worth : The common parent, whom we all deplore, 25 From yonder world unfeen muft come no more. Yet ’midft our woes immortal hopes attend The fpoufe, the fire, the univerfal
%
88 . POEMS ON
To a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain for the Recovery of his Health.
/ HILE others chant of gay Elyjian ^ ^ Of balmy zephyrs, and of flow’ry plains. My fong more happy fpeaks a greater name.
Feels higher motives and a nobler flame.
For thee, O R — , the mufe attunes her Airings, 5 And mounts fublime above inferior things.
I fing not now of green embow’ring woods,
I fing not now the daughters of the floods,
I fing not of the florms^o’er ocean driv’n,
And how they howPd along the wafte of heav’n, 10 But I to K — would paint the Britijh fhore.
And vaft Atlantic^ not untry^'d before :
Thy life impair’d commands thee to arife.
Leave thefe bleak regions, and inclement Ikies, Where chilling winds return the winter paft, 15 And nature fliudders at the furious blafl:.
O thou
O then ftupendous, earth-enclofing mSin
Exert thy wonders to the world again !
if ere thy pow’r prolong’d the fleeting breath. Turn’d back, the fliafts, and mock d the gates of death,
If ere thine air difpens’d an healing pow’r.
Or fnatch’d the vidim from the fatal hour.
This equal cafe demands thine equal care.
And equal wonders may this patient fliare.
But unavailing, frantic is the dream 25
To hope thine aid without the aid of him Who gave thee birth, and taught thee where to flow.
And in thy waves his various bkflTings fliow\
May R — return to view his native fhore Replete with vigour not his own before.
Then lhall we fee with pleafure and furprize. And own thy work, great Ruler of the Ikies !
30
M
T®
To the Rev. Dr. THOMAS AMORY on reading his Sermons on Daily Devotion, in which that Duty is recommended and affifted.
O cultivate in ev’ry noble mind Habitual grace, and fentiments refin’d. Thus while you ftrive to mend the human heart, Thus while the heav’nly precepts you impart,
■O may each bofom catch the facred fire, 5
And youthful minds to Virtues throne afpire !
When God’s eternal ways you fet in fight.
And Virtue ftiines in all her native light.
In vain would Vice her works in night conceal. For Wifdoin-s eye pervades the fable veil. 10
Artifts may paint the fun’s effulgent rays. But Amorfs pen the brighter God difplays : While his great works in Amorf s pages fhine. And while he proves his effence all divine.
The
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 91
The Atheift fure no more can boaft aloud 15 Of chance, or nature, and exclude the God j As if the clay without the potter’s aid Should rife in various forms, and fhapes felf-made. Or worlds above with orb o’er orb profound Self-mov’d could run the everlafting round. 20 It cannot be — unerring Wifdom guides With eye propitious, and o’er all prefides.
Still profper, Amory ! ftill may’ll thou receive ^ The v/armefl bleflings which a mufe can give, And when this tranfitory Hate is o’er, 25
When kingdoms fall, and fleeting Fame's no more, May Amory triumph in immortal fame,
A nobler title, and fuperior name !
M 2
On
92
P O E M S' ON
On the Death of J. C. an Infant.
NO more the flow’ry fcenes of pleafure rife. Nor charming profpefts greet the mental eyes.
No more with joy we view that lovely face Smiling, difportive, flufli’d with ev’ry grace.
The tear of forrcnv flows from ev’ry eye, 5 Groans anfwer groans, and fighs to ilghs reply •, What fudden pangs fliot thro’ pach aching heart. When, Bectb, thy meffenger difpatch’d his dart ? Thy dread attendants, all-defcroying Pow'r, Hurried the infant to his mortal hour. 10
Could’ft thou unpitying dole thofe radiant eyes ?
Or fail’d his artiefs beauties to furprize ?
Could not his innocence thy ftroke controul.
Thy purpofe fhake, and foften all thy foul ?
The
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 93
The blooming babe, v/ith fcades of Death d’ex-
But, like a branch that from the tree is torn, Falls proftrate, wither’d, languid, and forlorn. “ Where flies my ‘James?'' ’tis thus I feea
The parent aflc, “ Some angel tell me where « He wings his paflTage thro’ the yielding air ?’ Methinks a cherub bending from the fldes Obferves the queftion, and ferene replies,
“ In heav’ns high palaces your babe appears ;
“ Prepare to meet him, and difaufs'your tears. 25 Shall not th’ intelligence your grief reftrain.
And turn the mournful to the chearful {train ? Ceafe your complaints, fufpend each rifing fign, Ceafe to accufe the Ruler of the flcy.
Parents, no more indulge the falling tear : 3®
Let Faith to heav’n’s refulgent domes repair.
There fee your infant, like a leraph glow .
.What charms celeflial in his numbers flow
fpread, •
No more fliall fmile, no head.
^5
more fhall raife its
hear
Melodious,
94 POEMSon
Melodious, while the foul-enchautinp' ftrain Dwells on his tongue, and fills th’ ediereal plain ? 35 Enough- for ever ceafeyourmurm’ring breath ; Not as a foe, but friend converfe with Death,
Since to the port of happinefs unknown He brought that treafure which you call your own. The gift of heav’n intrufted to your hand 40 Chearful refign at the divine command :
Not at your bar muft fov’reign Wijdom Hand.
VARIOUS subjects. 95
An H Y M N to Humanity. To S, P. G. Efq-,
I.
LO ! for this dark terreflrial ball Forfakes his azure-paved hall A prince of heav’nly birth !
Divine humanity behold.
W^hat wonders rile, what charms umold 5
At his defcent to earth !
II.
The bofoms of the great and good With wonder and delight he view’d,
And fix’d his empire there ;
Him, clofe compreffing to his breaft, 10
The fire of gods and men addrefs’d,
‘‘ My fon, my heav’nly fair !
Ill, “ Defcend
96
POEMS G N
III.
“ Defcend to earth, tliere place thy throne j “To fuccour man’s afflidled fon
“ Each human heart infpire : 15
“ To aft in bounties unconfin’d “ Enlarge the clofe contrafted mind,
“ And fill it with thy fire.”
IV.
Quick as the word, with fwift career He wings his courfe from ftar to ftar, 20
And leaves the bright abode.
The Virtue did his charms impart ;
Their G y ! then thy raptur’d heart
Perceiv’d the rulking God :
V.
For when thy pitying eye did fee 25
The languid mufe in low degree.
Then, then at thy defire Defcended the celellial nine -,
O’er me methought they deign’d to fhine.
And deign’d to firing my lyre. 3®
VI. Can
To the Honourable T. H, Efq; on the Death of his Daugh‘°r.
1 1 L E deep you mourn beneath the
cyprefs-fhade
The hand of Death, and your dear daughter laid In dull, whofe abfence gives your tears to flow. And racks your bofom with inceffant woe.
Let RecolleHion take a tender part, 5
Aflliage the raging tortures of your heart.
Still the wild tempefl; of tumultuous grief.
And pour the heav’nly nedbar of relief:
Sufpend the flgh, dear Sir, and check the groan. Divinely bright your daughter’s Virtues fhone : 19 How free from fctirniul pride her gentle mind, Which ne’er its aid to indigence declin’d ! Expanding free, it fought the means to prove Unfailing charity, unbounded love !
She unreludlant flies to fee no more 15
Her dear-lov’d parents on earth’s dulky (hore :
Impatient
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 99
Impatient heav’n’s refplendent goal to gain.
She with fwift progrefs cuts the azure plain. Where grief fubfides, where changes are no more, y\nd life's tumultuous billows ceafe to roar^ 20 She leaves her earthly manfion for the fides, VVhere new creations feaft her wond’ring eyes.
To heav’n’s high mandate chearfully refign’d She mounts, and leaves the rolling globe behind 5 She, who late wifh’d that Leonard might return, 25 Has ceas’d to languifh, and forgot to mourn ;
1 o the fame high empyreal manfions come.
She joins her fpoufe, and fmiles upon the tomb: And thus I hear her from the realms above :
Lo ! this the kingdom of celeftial love! 30 Could ye, fond parents, fee our prefent blifs,
‘‘ How foon would you each figh, each fear dif- mifs ?
Amidft unutter’d pleafures whilft I play In the fair funlhine of celeftial day.
As far as grief affedls an happy foul 35
So far doth grief my better mind controul,
N 2 «T#
lOO
“To fee on earth my aged parents mourn,
“ And fecret wifh for T 1 to return ;
“ Let brighter fcenes your ev’ning-hQurs em- “ ploy :
“ Converfe with heav’n, and tafte the promis’d “joy.” 40
NIOBE
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. i*i
NIOBE in Diftrefs for her Children flain by Apollo, from Ovid’s Metamorphofes, Book VI. and from a view of the Painting of Mr. Richard Wilfon.
A
P O L L O’s wrath to man the dreadful fpring
Of ills innum’rous, tuneful goddefs, fing !
Thou who did’ft firfl: th’ ideal pencil give.
And taught’ft the painter in lus works to live, Infpire with glowing energy of thought, 5
What TVilfon painted, and what Ovid wrote.
Mufe ! lend thy aid, nor let me fue in vain,
Tho’ laft and meaneft of the rhyming train !
O guide my pen in lofty ftrains to fiiow The Phrygian queen, all beautiful in woe.
19
’Twas where A'Leonia fpreads her wide domain Plicbe dwelt, and held her potent reign :
See in her hand the regal fceptre fliine.
The wealthy heir of Pantalus divine.
He
lot
POEMS
O N
He moil diftinguift’d by Dcdonean Jove,
To approach the tables of the gods above : Her grandfire Atlas, who with mighty pains Th’ ethereal axis on his neck luftains :
Her other gran fire on the throne on high Rolls the loud-pealing thunder thro’ the iky.
15
20
Her fpoufe, Amphion, who from Jove too fprings, Divinely taught to fweep the founding ferings.
Seven fprightly fons the royal bed adorn,
Seven daughters beauteous as the op’ning morn. As when Aarora fills the ravilh’d fight, 25
And decks the orient realms with rofy liaht From their bright eyes the living fpiendors play, Nor can beholders bear the flaldi, ng ray.
Wherever, 'Niohe, diou turn’d thine eyes. New beauties kindle, and new joys arife !
But thou had’ft far'the happier mother prov’d. If this fair offspring had been lefs belov’d :
What
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. i®3
V7hat if their charms exceed Aurora’s teint,
•No words could reli them, and no pencil paint, Thy love too vehement haftens to deftroy 35 Each blooming maid, and each celeftial boy.
Now Mar, to comes, endu’d with mighty Ikill, The paft to explore, the future to reveal.
Thro’ Thehes’ wide ftreets 'Tirejia’s daughter came. Divine Latona’s mandate to proclaim : 40
The Theban maids to hear the orders ran.
When thus MAonia’s prophetefs began :
“ Go, fhehans ! great Latona’s will obey,
“ And pious tribute at her altars pay ;
“ W ith rights divine, the goddefs be implor’d,
“ Nor be her facred offspring unador’d.”
Thus Manto fpoke. The Theban maids obey,
And pious tribute to the goddefs pay.
The rich perfumes afcend in waving Ipires,
And altars blaze with confecrated fires;
The fair affembly moves with graceful air.
And l«aves of laurel bind the flowing hair.
Niobe
l^iobe comes with all her royal race.
With charms unnumber’d, and fuperior grace : Her Phrygian garments ©f delightful iiue, 55 Inwove with gold, refulgent to the view.
Beyond defcriptian beautiful fhe moves
Like heav’nly Venus^ ’midft her fmiies and loves :
She views around the fupplicating train.
And lhakes her graceful head with ftern dif- dain, 60
Proudly (he turns around her lofty eyes,
And thus reviles celeftial deities ;
“ What madnefs drives the ‘Theban ladies fair “ To give their incenfe to furrounding air ?
“ Say’' why this new fprung deity preferr’d ? 65
“ Why vainly fancy your petitions heard ?
“ Or fay why Cms' offspring is obey’d,
“ While to my goddefship no tribtitc’s paid ?
“ For me no altars blaze with living fires,
« No bullock bleeds, no frankincenfe tranfpires, 7® “ Tho’ Cadmm’ palace, not. unknown to fame,
“ And Phrygian nations all revere my name.
“ Wherc^tr
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 105
“ Where’er I turn my eyes vail wealth I find.
“ Lo ! here an emprefs with a goddefs join’d.
“ What, lhall a Titanefs be deify’d, 75
“ To whom the fpacious earth a couch deny’d ?
“ Nor heav’n, nor earth, nor fea receiv’d your “ queen,
“ ’Till pitying Delos took the wand’rer in.
“ Round me what a large progeny is fpread !
“ No frowns of fortune has my foul to dread. 80 “ What if indignant fhe decreafe my train “ More than Latonals number will remain ?
“ Then hence, ye 'Theban dames, hence hade “ away,
“ Nor longer ofPrings to Latena pay ?
Regard the orders of Amphimt’s Ipoufe, 85
“ And take the leaves of laurel from your brows.’* Niobe fpoke. The Theban'van^s obey’d.
Their brows unbound, and left the rights un- paid.
The angry goddefs heard, then filence broke On Cynthus' fummit, and indignant fpoke ; 90
O Phcebiisl
io6 POEMS on
“ ^hcehus ! behold, thy mother in difgrace,
“ Who to no goddefs yields the prior place " Except to Juno’s felf, who reigns above,
“ The fpoufe and fitter of the thund’ring Jove.
“ Niok fprung from ’Tantalus infpires g$
“ Each Thehan bofom with rebellious fires ;
“ No reafon her imperious temper quells,
“ But all her father in her tongue rebels ;
« Wrap her own fons for her blafpheming breath, “ Apollo ! wrap them in the fliades of death.” loo Latona ceas’d, and ardent thus replies.
The God, whofe glory decks th’ expanded Ikies,
“ Ceafe thy complaints, mine be the talk af- “ fign’d
“ To punifti pride, and fcourge the rebel mind.” This Phiek join’d.— They wing their inttant flight; 105
fheks trembled as th’ immortal pow’rs alight.
With clouds incompafs’d glorious Phoebus ttands ;
The feather’d vengeance quiv’ring in his hands.
Near
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 107
Near Cadmus^ walls a plain extended lay.
Where ThcUs' young princes pafs’d in fport the day ; i 10
There the bold courfers bounded o’er the plains, While their great mafters held the golden reins. Ifmenus firft the racing paftime led,
And rul’d the fury of his flyirtg fteed.
“ Ah rhe,” he fudden cries, with ihrieking breath, _ 115
,4**"
While in his breaft he feels the fhaft of death ; He drops the bridle on his courier’s mane,
Before his eyes in lhadows fwims the plain.
He, the firft- born of great AmphMs bed.
Was. ftruck the firft, firft mingled with the dead. 123
Then didft thou, Sirius, the language hear Of fate portentous whiftling in the air :
As when th’ impending ftorm the failor fees He fpreads his canvas to the fav’ring breeze,
. , O 2
So
POEMS OH
loS
So to thine horfe thou gav’fl; the golden reins, 125 Gav’ft him to rufh impetuous o’er the plains :
But ah ! a fatal fliaft from Phcehus' hand Smites through thy neck, and finks thee on the fand.
Two other brothers were at wreftling found.
And in their paftime clafpt each other round : 130 A lhaft that inftant from Apollo’s hand Transfixt them both, and ftretcht them on the fand :
Together they their cruel fate bemoan’d.
Together languifh’d, and together groan’d ; Together too th’ embodied fpirits fled, 135
And fought the gloomy manfions of the dead.
Alphenor faw, and trembling at the view.
Beat his torn breaft, that chang’d its fnowy hue. He flies to raife them in a kind embrace ;
A brother’s fondnefs triumphs in his face : 140
Alphenor fails in this fraternal deed,
A dart difpacch’d him (fo the fates decreed ;)
Soon
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 109
Soon as the arrow lett the deadly wound.
His ifluing entrails Imoak’d upon the ground.
What woes on blooming Bamafichm wait ! , 145 His fighs portend his near impending fate.
Juft where the well-made leg begins to be.
And the fofc finews form the fupple knee,
I'he youth fore wounded by the Delian god Attempts t’ extrad the crime-avenging rod, 140 But, whilft he ftrives the will of fate t’ avert. Divine Apollo fends a fecond dart •,
-Swift thro’ his throat the, feather’d mifchief flies. Bereft of fenfe, he drops his head, and dies.
Young Ilioneus, thelaft, direds his pray’r, 155 And cries, “ My life, ye gods celeftial ! fpare.” Apollo heard, and pity touch’d his heart.
But ah ! too late, for he had fent the dart :
Thou too, O Ilioneus, are doom’d to fall.
The fates refufe that arrow to recal, i6®
no
P O E M S ON
On the fwift wings of eyer- flying Fame To Cadmus" palace foon the tidings came ;
Nipbe heard, and with indignant eyes She thus exprefs’d her anger and furprize :
« Why is fuch privilege to them ailov/’d ? 165
Why thus infulted by the Delian god ?
Dwells there fuch mifehief in the pow’rs above ? Why fleeps the vengeance of immortal Jove?'" For now Amphion too, with grief opprefs’d.
Had plung’d the deadly dagger in his bread. 1 7® fsliohe now, lefs haughty than before.
With lofty head direfts her fteps no more.
She, who late told her pedigree divine.
And drove the Fhehans from Latona/s flirine,
How ftrangely chang’d ! yet beautiful in
woe, 175
She vveeps, nor weeps unplty’d by the foe.
Dn each pale corfe the wretched mother fpread Lay overwhelm’d with grief, and kifs’d her dead. Then rais’d her arms, and thus, in accents flow. Be fated cruel Goddefs ! wdeh my wme ^ 180
cc If
VARIOUS SUBJECTS, m “ If I’ve offended, ler thefe ftreaming eyes,
“ And let this lev’nfold funeral luiTice :
“ Ah ! tike this wretched life you deign’d to fave, “ With them I too am carried to the grave.
“ Rejoice triumphant, my victorious foe, 185 “ But fhow the caufe from whence your triumphs “ flow ?
“ Tho’ I unhappy mourn thefe children flain,
“ Yet greater numbers to my lot remain.”
She ceas’d, the bov.' ftring twang’d with awful found.
Which {truck with terror all th’ afiembly round. Except the queen, who flood unmov’d alone.
By her dillrefles more prefumptuous grown.
Near the pale corfes flood their fillers fair In fable veftures and difhevell’d hair ;
One, while Are draws the fatal fliaft away,
Faints, falls, and fickens at the light of day.
To footh her mother, lo ! another flies.
And blames the fury of inclement fkies.
And, while her words a filial pity fliow.
Struck dumb— —indignant feeks the fliades below. 200
P ^ O E M S G N Now from the fatal place another flies,
E’eHs in her flight, and languilhes, and dies. Another on her After drops in death ;
A fifth in trembling terrors yields her breath ; "While the fixth feeks fome *g!oomy cave in vain, 205
Struck with the relt, and mingl’d with the flain.
One only daughter lives, and Ihe the leaft;
The queen clofe clafp’d the daughter to her breafl: :
“ Ye heav’nly pow’rs, ah fpare me one,” Ihe cry’d,
“ Ah ! fpare me one,” the vocal hills reply’d ; 210 In vain Ihe begs, the Fates her fuit deny,
In her embrace Ihe fees her daughter die.
* “ The queen of all her family bereft. Without or hulband, fon, or daughter left, Grew ftupid at the Ihock. The paffing air 215 “ Made no imprelTion on her ftiff’ning hair.
* This Verfe to ths End is the Work of another Hand.
“ The
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 113
“ The blood forfook her face : amidft the hood “ Pour’d from her chedcs, quite fix’d her eye- balls flood.
Her tongue, her palate both obdurate grew. Her curdled veins no longer motion knev/ ; 22-0 The life of neck, and arms, and feet was gone. And ev’n her bowels hardened into ftone:
A marble ftatue now the queen appears,
But from the marble fteal the filent tears.’*
114
POEMS ON
To S. M. a young African Painter, on feeing his Works.
^1'"’ O Ihow the lab’ring bofom’s deep intent, And thought in living charafters to paint. When firfl thy pencil did thofe, beauties give. And breathing figures learnt from thee to live. How did thofe profpedts give my foul delight, 5 A new creation rufliing on my fight ?
Still, wond’rous youth ! each noble path purfue, On deathlefs glories fix thine ardent view ;
Still may the painter’s and the poet’s fire To aid thy pencil, and thy verfe confpire ! i* And may the charms of each feraphic theme Condudf thy footfteps to immortal fame !
High to the blifsful wonders of the Ikies Elate thy foul, and raife thy wiihful eyes.
Thrice happy, when exalted to furvey 15
That fplendid city, crown’d with endlefs day, Whofe twice fix gates on radiant hinges ring : Celeftial Salem blooms in endlefs fpring.
Calm
VARIOUS SUBJEC^TS, 115
Calm and ferene thy moments glide along.
And may the mufe infpire each future fong 1 20
Still, with the fweets of contemplation blefs’d. May peace with balmy wings your foul inveft ! But when thefe fhades of time are chas’d away, And darknefs ends in everlafting day,
On what feraphic pinions fliall we move, 25
And view the landfcapes in the realms above ? There Ihall thy tongue in heav’nly murmurs flow. And there my mufe with heav’nly tranfport glow ; No more to tell of Damon's tender fighs.
Or rifing radiance of Aurora's eyes, 30
For nobler themes demand a nobler {train.
And purer language on th’ ethereal plain.
Ceafe, gentle mufe ! the folemn gloorn of night Now feals the fair creation from my fight.
P 3
T®
To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on the Death of his Lady. March 24, 1773-
L L-conquering Death ! by thy refiftlefs
Hope’s tow’ring plumage falls to rife no more I Of fcenes terreftrial how the glories fly,
Forget their fplendors, and fubmit to die !
Who ere efcap’d thee, but the faint * of old 5 Beyond the flood in facred annals told.
And the great fage, f whom fiery courfcs drew 1 o heav’n’s bright portals from Elifljo's view ; Wond’ring he gaz’d at the refulgent car.
Then fnateh’d the mantle floating on the air. 10 From Death thefe only could exemption boafi;. And without dying gain’d th’ immortal coafl:.
Not falling millions fate the tyrant’s mind.
Nor can the vidtor’s progrefs be confin’d.
But ceafc thy ftrife with Death, fond Nature, ceafc ; 1 5
pow’r.
leaiis the virtuous to the realms of peace ; ■* Knoch. f Elijah.
His
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. ii;
His to conduft to the immortal plains,
Where heav’n’s Supreme in blifs and glory reigns.
There fits, illuftrious Sir, thy beauteous fpoufe; A gem-blaz’d circle beaming on her brows, ta Hail’d with acclaim among the heav’nly choirs. Her foul new-kindling with feraphic fires.
To notes divine (he tunes the vocal firings.
While heav’n’s high concave with the mufic rings. Virtue’s rewards can mortal pencil paint ? 25
pfo all defcriptive arts, and eloquence are faint ;
Nor canfi thou, Oliver^ aflent refufe To heav’nly tidings from the Afrk mufe.
As foon may change thy laws, eternal As the faint mifs the glories I relate j 3°
Or her Benevolence forgotten lie.
Which wip’d the trick’iing tear from Mis'rfs eje, •Whene’er the adverfe winds were known to blow. When lofs to lofs * enfu’d, and woe to woe.
Three amiable Daughters who died when juft arrived t« Womens Eftate.
Calm
JIS POEM S ON
Calm and ferece beneath her father’s hand She fat refign’d to the divine command.
35
No longer then, great Sir, her death deplore. And let us hear the mournful figh no more, Reftrain the forrow ftrcaming from thine eye,
Ee all thy future moments crown’d with joy ! Nor let thy wilhes be to earth confin’d.
But foaring high purfue th’ unbodied mind. Forgive the mule, forgive th’ advent’rous lays. That fain thy foul to hcav’niy fcenes would raile.
A Farewel
VARIOUS SUBJECTS, ii^
A Farewel to AMERICA. To Mrs. S. W.
I.
\ D I E U, New-England's fmiling meadsj Adieu, the fiow’ry plain :
I leave thine op’ning charms, O fpring,
And tempt the roaring main.
II.
In vain for me the flow’rets rife.
And boaft their gaudy pride. While here beneath the northern Ikies I mourn for health deny’d.
III.
Celeftial maid of rofy hue,
O let me feel thy reign ! rianguilh till thy face I view. Thy vanifh’d joys regain.
lO
IV. 5
POEMS OH
Sttfannah mourns, nor can I bear To fee the cryftal fhow’r.
Or mark the tender falling tear At fad departure’s hour j
V.
Not unregarding can I fee
Her foul with grief oppreft ;
But let no fighs, no groans for me. Steal from her penfive breaft.
VI.
[ In vain the feather’d warblers fing.
In vain the garden blooms.
And on the bofom of the fpring
Breathes out her fweet perfumes,
VII.
While for Britannia's, diftant Ihore We fweep the liquid plain.
And with aftonifh’d eyes explore The wide-extended main.
VIII. Lo!
VARIOUS SUBJECTS, lu
\
vni.
Lo ! Health appears! celeftlal dame !
Complacent and Terene,
With Hebe’s mantle o’er her Framej $0
With foul-delighting meiri.
■ IX.
To mark the vale where London lies With mifty vapours crown’d.
Which cloud Aurora’s thoufand dyesj 55
And veil her charms around,
X.
Why, Phcebus^ moves thy car fo flow ?
So flow thy rifing ray ?
Give us the famous town to view.
Thou glorious king of day !
XL
For thee, Britannia, I refigrt New-England’s fmiling fields ;
To view again her charms divine,
What joy the profpeft yields !
XII. But
122 POEM S ON
XII.
But thou ! Temptation hence away, 45
With all thy fatal train Nor once feduce my foul away.
By thine Enchanting ftrain.
XIII.
Thrice happy they, whofe heav’nly Ihieid
Secures their fouls from harms, 5®
And fell 'temptation on the field Of all its pow’r difarms !
Befton.Mtyj, i']7Sl
; i.
A REBUS,
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 123 A R E B U S, by T. B.
I.
A BIRD delicious to the tafte.
On which an army once did feaft.
Sent by an hand unfeen ;
A creature of the horned race.
Which Britain's royal ftandards grace; 5
A gem of vivid green;
II.
A town of gaiety and fport.
Where beaux and beauteous nymphs refort.
And gallantry doth reign;
A Dardan hero fam’d of old lO
For youth and beauty, as we’re.told.
And by a monarch flain ;
III.
m
|
A peer of popular applaufe. |
1 |
|
|
W’ho doth our violated laws. |
P |
|
|
And grievances proclaim. |
li |
|
|
Th’ initials fhow a vanquilh’d town, |
II |
|
|
That adds freih glory and renown |
||
|
To old Britannia’s fame. |
1 |
|
|
0.2 |
An |
p i^ii^ |
124
P O E M S o N
An Answer to the Rehus, by the Author of thefe Poems.
TH E poet afks, and Phillis can’t refufe
To fhew th’obedience of the Infant mufe*
She knows the ^ail of moft inviting tafte Fed IfraeTs ^rmy in the dreary wafte;
And what’s on Britain's royal ftandard borne, 5 But the tall, graceful, rampant Unicornl The Emerald a vivid verdure glows Among the gems which regal crowns compofe; Bqflon’s a town, polite and debonair.
To which the beaux and beauteous nymphs repair, Each Helen ftrikes the mind with fweet lurprife. While living lightning Hafties from her eyes.
See young Euphorhus of the Dardan line By Menelaus' hand to death refign :
The well known peer of popular applaufe Is C—m zealous to fupport our laws.
^ehec now vanquilh’d mufl. obey.
She too muft annual tribute pay ^ To Britain of immortal fame.
And add new glory to her name.
finis.
Page
TO Mscenas 9
On Virtue *3
To the Univerfity of Cambridge, in New- England *5
To the King’s Moft Excellent Majefty
On being brought from Africa On the Rev. Dr. Sewell On the Rev. Mr. George Whi On the Death of a young Lady of five Years of Age 25
On the Death of a young Gentleman 27
To a Lady on the Death of her Hulband 29 Goliath of Gath 3 *
Thoughts on the Works of Providence 43
To a Lady on the Death of three Relations 51 To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady 53 An Hymn to the Morning 5^
An Hymn to the Evening 5^
On
CONTENTS.
On Ifaiah Ixiii. i — 8 5o
On Recolleflion 62
On Imagination ^5
A Funeral Poem on tlie Death of an Infant aged twelve Months 69
To Captain H. D. of the 65th Regiment 72
To the Rt. Hon. William, Earl of Dartmouth 73 Ode to Neptune 7^
To 'a Lady on her coming to North America with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health 78 To a Lady on her remarkable Prefervation in a Hurricane in North Carolina 80
To a Lady and her Children on the Death of her Son, and their Brother 82
To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sifter, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year 84
On the Death ot Dr. Samuel Marftiall 86
To a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain, for the Recovery of his Plealth 8 8
To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory on reading his Sermons on Daily Devotion, in which that Duty is recommended and aflifted 90
On
Infant
On the Death of J. C. an An Hymn to Humanity To the Hon. T. H. Efq; on the Ueath or ms Daughter
Niobe in Diftrefs for her Children flain by Apollo, from Ovid’s Metamorphofes, Book VI. and from a View of the Painting of Mr. Richard JVilfon J
To S. M. a young African Painter, on feeing his Works ■
To his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on the Death of his Lady !
A Farewel to America j
-A Rebus by I. B. i
An Anfwer to ditto, hy Phillis Wheatley i
Lctdy PubliJbBd in 2 vols. TwcivcSj (pTice few^d^y THE
memoirs
O F
M I s s W I L L I A M S.
A
History founded on Facts.
By a.
LbNDON : Printed for E. Johnson, in Ave Mary Lane;: _and A. B’ell, near the Saracen’s Head, ALDGATE.
W R I T T E N hy the fame Author, Shortly will bepihlijhed, (in a neat Pocket Volmne,)
the
CHURCH-MEMBER’s DIRECTORY, EVERY CHRISTIAN’S COMPANION.
Defisned for the Ufe of fuch as have engaged in a folemn- Conneftion with Christ’s Vifible Church.
w H E P. E I N
The Duties of that high Relation are confxdereJ, both in a religious and moral Point of View.
Let e^ery one that namcth the name of Chriji depart from ini- quity, 2 Tim. Chap. ii. v. 19.
TOGETHER WITH ^
An Address to thofe who have an Intention of entering upon that important Chara£ler.
For <whick of you intending to build a to^ver^^ fitteth not donjjn £rji aiidcoimteth the toft, whether he fuihcient ^mih it
Left’ haply after he hath laid the foundation, and is not aJe to finijh it, all that behold it, begin to mock him.
Saying, this man began to build, and nvas not able to fintjh.
^ ^ Luke Chap. xiv. Ver. 28, zo, 30.